1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications networks where network nodes are interconnected by a number of links, and more specifically to a least-cost routing technique. The present invention is particularly useful for optical networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior art communications network as shown and described in Japanese Patent Publications 07-250356 and 10-276208, neighboring nodes are interconnected by a plurality of communication links that terminate a switching system of the nodes. Each node maintains a database that stores the status information of the links. A path controller exchanges the link status information with the neighboring nodes to update their database and determines a minimum cost route in response to a path setup request from a client device to produce a path setup signal. The switching system responds to the path setup signal for establishing a connection between the links specified by the determined route.
However, since the prior art is solely based on the costs associated with communication links, the route determined is not always the best for nodes involved in a given path if their node resources are different in quantity, size and type.